A story I did now presented with much modification...

The shouts of "jai mata di, share-wali ki jai", seem to have caught up with "bolo bolo durga mai ki jai, asche bouchor aabar aashbe" (she'll come again next year). The number of non-Bengali Pujas is increasing every year and on Geeta Ghat near ISBT one saw a marked difference in the ceremonies and mannerism in the immersion of the same goddess.
The most visible part was the protective manner adopted by the bong men towards their women, as soon as they saw the non-bong men around. The Bengali snobbery is quite interesting to watch when in full action... Both the parties, bong and non-bong, seem to indulge in the similar activities of dancing, shouting and drooling... But of course the bongs do it with style and sophistication and some tradition in the ceremonies.
While the Bengali Durga was drowned in the noise of Dhak (traditional drums from bong land) the Share wali was enveloped in the Dhol (drums with Punjabi roots and beats).
The traditional aspect and symbolic meanings seem to be missing from the share wali's departure...
(Or maybe I am just biased, being half bong myself etc). Plus the rowdies and aggressiveness is more apparent in the non bong crowds at the Ghats than the bong crowds... Sometimes its very encouraging watching different interpretations and reflections of the same religion... at times it is distressing to see the homogenizing of heterogeneous myths and legends.
:)


A very important feature of the Durga Puja is the community involvement and very encouragingly the lack of saffronisation of the whole event despite its essentially being 'Hindu'. In Durga Puja all participate the believers, non-believers and even atheists- it is celebrated more as a social community event rather than a religious one.
There are around 400 registered Durga Puja samities in Delhi. "Mahadashmi" the last day of Durga Puja, symbolizes the victory of Good over evil, after which Durga, Shiva's wife is sent back through the river to her husband, by the devotees. The day begins with the priest releasing the soul of Durga, brought in to the mud-straw idol at the beginning of Puja. This is followed by smaller rituals of 'shindur khala' (similar to Holi, but dry and played with sindoor- a symbol of marital status) by the women of the community to celebrate their 'matrimonial bliss'.
And after the immersion ceremony is over each Puja locality congregates to receive the blessings of the priest and stinking Yamuna through 'shanti jal' and hug each other and touch elders’ feet. Thing hugging and touching of feet continues for around 15 days to symbolize 'shobho bijoya'- happy victory/ congratulating each other over the victory of good (embodied by Durga) over Evil (embodied by the demon-mahishasur).